She thought she'd picked something hard but he'd guessed it right away. And after only a few tries! Now it was her turn to guess. I'll be here for an eternity, she thought. Not that she cared. She certainly didn't mind being here. Not at all!

"I spy with my little eye something . . .immortal."

She quirked a brow. "I don't suppose you could be less vague. I mean, I was only twelve when . . . well, you know."

A gentle sigh, "an essence."

"More," she prodded.

"From the Greek word psuche."

"Do I look Greek?"

"Dichotomists believe that a person is composed of a body and this."

"Even if I knew what a Dichotomists was . . "

"All right. The underlying foundation of human existence which is the true self of pure consciousness." A subtle pause. "What are you doing?"

Legs crossed, thumb and forefinger of each hand forming a circle. "Zen! I'm meditating. Maybe the answer will come."

"How about . . . an energy center."

Her face brightened. "The sun. No, the Son!"

"Well, no but it was a nice try. Ummm. . . the moral or spiritual part of man"

"You don't play this game much, do you?"

"What if I told you it was the part of man that makes him different than the animals?"

"Which animal?"

"All animals!"

"ONE thing that makes man different from ALL the animals aside from what they eat, how they smell, how they choose to hunt their food! Tell me when to stop."

"Now would be fine. Let me see . . . According to Plato, this is a spiritual principle of thought that should govern human choice and action."

Face contorting. "Pla-doh! Pla-doh can't think it's an inanimate object. And it's Pla-doh, not Pla-toh but I can understand how you wouldn't know that, so that's okay."

“Wait! What I’m tying to get you to guess is an inanimate object.”

“Not fair. You can’t use my own words against me. Besides, everything up here is inanimate.”

“Yes. You have a point there. How about this, according to Aristotle, this is the human form, the organizing principle that shapes the chaos of matter into a human creature rather than some other . . . ummmmm . . . nevermind.”

“What if I just guess what color it is?”

“Won’t work. It doesn’t have a color.”

“What if I guess how big it is?”

“No size either.”

Exaggerated eye roll. “Why didn’t I know that!” A pause. “You’re just going to have to do better if you want me to guess.”

“A unifying, self-organizing field of loving creative energy in identity.”

“Nope. No clue.”

“Spontaneous, individualistic expression of the deeper aspects of Being.”

“Still drawing a blank.”

“It can indicate the personal identity of a living being, its feelings, thoughts, impulses, memories, and sense of self.”

“Talk to the hand because I’m still clueless.”

“Separate from the physical vessel?”

“Again, everything up here. And by the way, I’ve got all day.”

Was that laughter she heard?

“What you gave me along with your heart.”

“Oh, that’s easy! My soul! That’s it isn’t it! It’s soul you wanted me to guess! Yes! Now it’s my turn again. What’s black and white and red all over? And it’s not the Bible so don’t even start there.”

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What a great, fun, piece of dialogue ... a real Socratic dialogue, with real Philosophers! I loved the Plato joke too. And, of course, a great way of exploring the definition of "soul". Super. I hope this does well, but even if it doesn't it has certainly generated a lot of smiles!